FLORENCE, Ariz. (KGUN) — There’s extra election drama in Pinal County where election officials underestimated demand and ran out of ballots in some precincts. The election director’s job is in jeopardy as Pinal County works to avoid a rerun in November.
There are so many accusations of voter fraud flying around. They really did have a serious, serious problem in the Pinal County primaries on Tuesday. They say it was strictly human error but it was embarrassing and they’re promising to make sure it does not happen again.
State Rep John Fillmore found trouble when he went to check on the people he hoped would vote for him.
“I was at a poll in Gold Canyon, poll 66 in Gold Canyon. People were coming out saying, they don't have any ballots, and other people were saying, ‘I’m not even going in.’”
The Republican Primary had hot, high interest races, so hot the Pinal County Elections Department underestimated how many in-person ballots it needed. It’s not clear how many voters the shortage affected. One estimate is 700 or 750.
Asked how that plays in a political climate where there's high suspicion of voter fraud, Pinal County Attorney Kent Volkmer says it was nothing sinister, just pure human error.
“If this were malicious, first of all, don't you think we'd have somebody here taking the fall? You know, you've heard the chairman has not said anything negative about our elections director. If we really thought that there was something nefarious, don't you think we would bring him in and perp walk him out in the middle of here? That's what would happen if we really thought that there was something nefarious going on.”
State Senator Kelly Townsend did not win a Republican nomination this time around. She says she does not want to be adversarial but: “How can we proceed forward and just say, ‘Oh, well.’ Sorry. I do think there needs to be an injunction placed on certifying these election results and until I can answer my neighbors on the Goldfield Hills about why they never did receive a ballot.”
Officials here say they rushed to print and deliver more ballots but still fell short.
County Board Chair Jeffrey McClure says Pinal County’s election director will probably be replaced, while they work to make sure there’s no rerun of this kind of trouble in the general election in November.
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Craig Smith is a reporter for KGUN 9. With more than 40 years of reporting in cities like Tampa, Houston and Austin, Craig has covered more than 40 Space Shuttle launches and covered historic hurricanes like Katrina, Ivan, Andrew and Hugo. Share your story ideas and important issues with Craig by emailing craig.smith@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
